1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the automated dispensing of items which may be items of any description. More specifically, this invention relates to automated dispensing of edible items, such as frozen, chicken nuggets or other frozen food items such as fruit, where the items being dispensed are sold or packaged by number, weight, or by volume. The machine may be set to dispense one of a number of pre-selected quantities of items. The machine has the additional benefit that it works without necessity for human contact with the items, a benefit highly desirable in food processing.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Many machines exist for automatic dispensing of items. Candy, soda, and other vending machines have been around for countless years. The mechanisms employed to accomplish the dispensing vary widely. The vast majority of these machines simply dispense one item per use. A vending machine route person loads the machines with one item per compartment or otherwise performs the counting. Thus, the counting function depends on human interaction.
Counting machines of various descriptions also exist, but no machines are designed for counting and dispensing items for fast food restaurants. In the case of seed dispensing mechanisms used by farmers, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,051 to Yoss, the seed is cast upon the ground. In seed dispensing machines, one goal is for the seeds to be dispensed at some uniform rate as the farm machine passes over the ground. Clearly, it is undesirable for food items to be dispensed in this manner.
Another aspect of existing machines which renders the machines undesirable for food processing is that the machines usually distribute the items over a distance. As the wheels of the machine roll over the ground, a pre-selected number of seeds are dropped for given units of distance. For example, the machine may drop one seed every ten inches. These machines lack any considerations of prophylaxis. They are open and exposed to all manner of dirt, insects, vermin, weather, and other elements that make these machines unsuitable for use in human food processing.
Precooked frozen chicken meat poses special health considerations. Improper handling of precooked frozen chicken meat significantly increases the risk of contamination. Good health practices mandate that precooked frozen chicken be processed only on surfaces and with implements and containers, including refrigeration units, used solely for raw and/or precooked chicken meat. No known existing machine overcomes all of the problems in processing frozen precooked chicken meat prior to cooking for human consumption.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,767, issued Jul. 14, 1998 to Brian Rudesill, also inventor of the present invention, discloses a Dispenser Apparatus for dispensing a predetermined quantity of food items, such as frozen french fries. In the earlier Rudesill patent, the dispensing mechanism includes a rotatable drum. The french fries fall by gravity into the rotatable drum. As a slot in the drum passes over a slotted plate, permitting the french fries to fall into a waiting container.
The device in the earlier Rudesill patent does not count the number of french fries. Portion control is substantially accomplished by the rate of rotation of the rotatable drum and the sizes of the slots in the rotatable drum and the plate. Thus, in this earlier device, dispensing is by volume.
Fast-food restaurants are a fixture of our society. One of the popular menu items for these restaurants is chicken nuggets. These nuggets are normally sold by count. A portion consists of some set number of nuggets, for example, ten nuggets per serving. With the existing art, some person must count out the desired number of nuggets. When this is done at the restaurant, the time it takes to count out the number of nuggets adds to the time required to serve the customer.
If the counting is done prior to the customer""s making the order, then there must be some packaging of the portion. The prior counting must be done at the restaurant or at some distribution facility. Packaging introduces a waste issue as well as a delay in opening the package. Having a distributor do the counting and packaging means increased prices to the restaurant. On-site prior counting adds the problem that there will be loss of refrigeration during the counting. If the items to be counted are perishable, then thawing can significantly increase risk of contamination. Handling of food items may increase risks of other hazards from contamination by flying insects to the risk of hairs from the person doing the counting dropping onto the food. All of these health issues are clearly undesirable.
Fast food restaurants, in order to maximize profitability, attempt to avoid waste of unsold cooked food items. In the past, it has been difficult to regulate and/or estimate the quantity or volume of a food article prior to, or during cooking. As a result, excess quantities of food may have been inadvertently cooked where the unused food in excess of consumer demand may have been required to be disposed of without sale. A need therefore exists to regulate different batch sizes of food articles to be cooked. At peak sales periods, a large batch of food articles may be desired for cooking while at off hours a relatively small quantity of food articles may be desired for cooking. It is anticipated that the disclosed invention will assist in dispensing large, medium, and small batches of food articles for cooking, thereby satisfying a particular need or demand for a restaurant.
A dispensing machine for dispensing items from a storage container and into an object container is disclosed. The dispensing machine dispenses items such as frozen chicken nuggets or other food items which are normally cooked and sold by count, or volume. Accordingly, the machine may be set to dispense a pre-selected volume of chicken nuggets from the input hopper. The object container is typically a deep-frying basket. Upon activating the machine, the user will not have to count the items nor will the user have to touch the items at any time, thereby reducing or eliminating opportunities for contamination of the items and consequent spread of disease or unpalatable impurities such as dirt. The machine may be fully automatic or may be hand operated. Where the items are edible items that must be refrigerated, the machine components may be contained in refrigeration unit. Access to the interior of the machine is provided through one or more doors which are designed to remain shut during operation of the machine.
An advantage of the invention is that it has a storage container which may hold a large quantity of items to be dispensed.
Another advantage of the invention is that it has a rotatable plate which moves items to be dispensed into position for placement in the object container.
Still another advantage of the invention is the existence of a catch tray which accumulates excess crumbs or liquid.
Still another advantage of the invention is that the rotatable plate and the catch tray have openings sufficiently large for the items to fall through the plates, and which sizing permits a desired number of items to fall through, but which prevents more than the desired number of items from falling through the plates.
Still another advantage of the invention is that it has an object container positioned below the catch tray for containing the items that fall through the catch tray.
Still another advantage of the invention is that the storage container, rotatable plate, catch tray, and object container are contained within a frame or cabinet which locates the components and keeps the sanitary items sanitary.
Still another advantage of the invention is that the cabinet may be refrigerated to keep frozen food frozen.
Still another advantage of the invention is that the cabinet may have one or two doors in the side of the cabinet for access to the interior of the cabinet.
Still another advantage of the invention is that the catch tray also functions to support the hopper within the dispensing apparatus.
Still another advantage of the invention is that it has cabinet doors which may be hinged to the cabinet, may be fastened to the cabinet with fasteners.
Still another advantage of the invention is the control unit which permits the user to select the number of items to be dispensed.
Still another advantage of the invention it that it can dispense edible items, including frozen chicken nuggets, frozen fruit, or inedible items which gives the machine a wide range of uses.
Still another advantage of the invention is that it has a rotatable disk, which may be rotated manually, which gives the machine the ability to function away from an external power source.
Still another advantage of the invention is that it has a rotatable disk which may be rotated by a motor, which gives the machine the ability to function using an external power source.
Still another advantage of the invention is that it has a rotatable disk which may be rotated by chain, belt, or direct drive which provides the machine a variety of mechanical rotational mechanisms.
Still another advantage of the invention is that it has a control apparatus which may be a rotatable knob, an electro-mechanical device, an electronic device and/or a microprocessor which is adapted to provide a variety of methods for control of the quantity or volume of an article, thus giving the user a number of choices for how the machine regulates the quantity or volume of an article to be dispensed.
Still another advantage of the invention is that it has a control apparatus which regulates the number of degrees of rotation that the rotatable disk turns thus controlling the number of items which fall into the object container.
Still another advantage of the invention is that the object container may be a deep-frying basket for frying chicken nuggets.
Still another advantage of the invention is that the object container may be a bag into which items may be dispensed, so the items may be packaged for sale, storage, sanitation, or other purposes.
Still another advantage of the invention is that the storage container may be constructed of a hopper for storing items and a chute through which the items fall, where the chute may be positioned for directing the falling of items through openings in the rotatable plate.
Still another advantage of the invention is that the rotatable plate may turn about an axis of up to 65 degrees from the vertical in order to accommodate a wide variety of items which makes the dispenser more versatile.